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Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Magazine, Fall
2014 edition
Council OKs sidewalk beer, wine service
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
The town council voted
Sept. 9 to amend an existing
ordinance to allow serving
of beer and wine outside
downtown businesses.
The council approved the
measure on a 4-2 vote with
Councilmen Steve Biggs
and Elton Bond Jr. voting in
opposition.
Prior to the votem Town
Manager Anne-Marie Knigh
ton addressed some ques
tions that had been asked at
a previous council meeting
concerning the amendment.
Among them was whether
businesses that wanted to
participate would be re
quired to serve meals.
Knighton said that res
taurants serving alcohol are
required to have a percent
age of food sales but restau
rants, cafes or other stores
such as a wine shop can
serve beer and wine as long
as there is food available for
purchase.
“For example, Edenton
Bay Trading has cheese
and’ crackers available for
purchase and therefore the
business is able to seek an
ABC permit to serve wine
and beer on their premises,”
she said.
Edenton Bay TVading
Company and Emilio’s are
the two downtown busi
nesses that have expressed
interest in the opportunity.
Knighton noted that the
amendmenttothe ordinance
would state no such service
would be offered after 10
p.m. and that the operators
of eligible businesses must
not have violated a local or
dinance within the last three
years.
The designated area to
be used would be clearly
marked with signs and
roping, she said, and the
See SIDEWALK, 4A
PHOTO
COURTESY UNC
ARCHIVES
This postcard
shows the
historic
Hotel Joseph
Hewes, later
known as the V
Hotel Hinton
before serving
as the Chowan
County |
government
offices. A
developer
is planning
to renovate
the historic
structure
and resume
the “Joseph
Hewes’ name.
wtw1”
GRAPHIC
COURTESY SAGA
CONSTRUCTION
This
rendering
shows the
scale of a
proposed
rooftop
lounge
that SAGA
Construction
plans to
create atop
the Hotel
Hinton
building.
■ Developer eyeing return
to‘Joseph Hewes’name
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
A proposed Edenton
JL JLproject moved a step
closer to getting started
after receiving favorable
votes from the town coun- ,
cil last week.
The two unanimous
votes at the council’s "
Sept 9 meeting came in
response to a request from
SAGA Construction at the
site of the former Hotel
Hinton building on East
King Street. The develop- .
ers announced during the
meeting that they intended
to rename the hotel in
honor of Edenton patriot
Joseph Hewes.
The votes were cast
after public hearings on
requests for two condi
tional use permits, the
first of which would allow
subdividing of a .39-acre
parcel located at the site
from a larger tract owned
by Chowan County. That
larger tract includes other
properties owned by the
county, including the
historic 1905 Jailer’s House
and the 1825 Chowan
County Jail.
The second permit
would make possible the
creation of 65 hotel rooms,
a restaurant, a conference
meeting facility and a roof
top lounge, Town Manager
Anne-Marie Knighton said.
SAGA representatives
are scheduled to meet with
the Preservation Commis
sion on Sept. 22 at 1:15 •
p.m. in the town council
chambers. The commis
sion’s guidelines require
hotel restoration
See HINTON, 3A
Woman sues EC auto
dealer over radio ads
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
A Chowan County woman
who lost her young son and her
home in an April 25 tornado has
sued Alliance Nissan, alleging
the Elizabeth City auto dealer
ship exploited her personal
tragedy for commercial pur
poses and fraudulently raised
money in her name without
presenting the collected dona
tions to her.
Ashley Bain’s lawsuit was
filed in Chowan County Supe
rior Court the first week of Sep
tember.
The lawsuit, filed by Raleigh
attorney Robert H. Jessup,
points out Bain lost her 11
month-old son, Gavin, when a
! tornado destroyed her home on
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
April 25.
“Less than a week after these
events, Defendant Alliance Nis
san began a sales campaign
premised upon exploiting the
Plaintiff’s tragedy to sell cars
and steal money,” the lawsuit
states.
The suit seeks damages for
medical costs related to anxiety
and suffering caused by the ad
campaign; punitive damages of
three times the compensatory
damages, or $250,000, which
ever is greater; and the impo
sition of a “constructive trust”
that will pay to Bain any funds
collected through the campaign
that claimed it was raising mon
ey for her and her family.
The court filing states that Al
liance Nissan aired more than
1,000one-minute radio commer
cials on a dozen popular radio
stations in northeastern North
Carolina between April 30 and
May 15.
The ads “graphically
described the death of the
See RADIO ADS, 4A
Views differ on enrollment-funding
f BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
I.,
Enrollment in the Edenton-Chowan Schools is rela
tively stable this year following several consecutive
years of declining enrollment
Meanwhile, local and state officials disagree regard
ing the extent to which the schools’ enrollment im
pacts funding.
Superintendent Rob Jackson said last week that
2,220 students had shown up for school so far this
year. That figure doesn’t include 57 pre-kindergarten
students who aren’t counted as part of the local school
system’s average daily membership (ADM).
The state allots funds to school districts across the
state based on ADM.
The state potentially could pull back a teaching posi
tion if there were a sharp drop in ADM by the 20-day
mark, but Jackson said he doesn’t expect that to hap
pen.
Rep. Bob Steinburg, R-Chowan, said in recent
speeches in the district that the local school district
had lost about $2 million in state funding in recent
years because of declining enrollment.
Steinburg said the state might need to reconsider the
formula that allocates state education dollars based on
enrollment
But as long as the formula is in place, local school
officials need to acknowledge the role that declining
enrollment plays in decreased state funding, according
to Steinburg.
Asked about Steinburg’s assertion, Jackson said he
See VIEWS DIFFER, 4A
Dollar stores eye sites along Va. Road
; BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor ■ ■ ' ■
Two popular dollar stores have
express^! interest in locations in
northern Chowan County.
. Landin Holland, planning direc
tor for the county, mentioned during
discussion of a proposed ordinance
amendment at Monday’s meeting of
the Chowan Board of Commission
ers that Dollar General and Fam
ily Dollar had approached county
planning officials with an interest in
sites along Virginia Road.
The two sites are the intersection
with Rocky Hock Road across from
C A Peny and the intersection with
Sandy Ridge Road across from
White Oak Elementary School.
The information about the two
companies’ interest in the north
ern Chowan sites was presented
during discussion of a proposed
text amendment to the Zoning Or
dinance to add variety stores and
general merchandise stores as
a special use in the county’s A-l
See STORES, 2A
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